Planting Out Sweet Potato Slips

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Tips for Starting Your Sweet Potato Slips, Easy-to-follow Recommendations from Our Field Trials...

Update on Our New Asparagus Planting: Part II

Update on Our New Asparagus Planting: Part II 

May 2015,

From our last post you’ll recall that we planted a new bed of asparagus crowns at Johnny’s Research Farm in Albion on May 4th. Prior to planting, we dug an 8”-deep trench, but following planting did not fill the trench back up to the soil line. Now that the spears have started emerging from the soil, it’s time to add another layer of soil.

   

This is a fairly simple process. All you need to do is use some sort of gardening tool — a rake, a stirrup hoe, a small pitchfork — and gently add soil to the furrow. We used a collinear hoe (see image below). Do not cover the spears all of the way; leave the top of the bud still showing above the soil.

Do Not Totally Cover Spears

The furrow still won’t be completely filled in at this point; you are only adding one more layer of 2–3” of soil. In another week or so, after waiting for the spears to emerge again, you will need to add more soil back into the furrow. Repeat until the amount of soil in the furrow is even with the soil line. 

Collinear Hoe

Although you’ll be eager to begin harvesting, establishing an asparagus bed requires patience. It is not until a full year after planting that the spears will be of harvestable size. Even then, your first harvest will be short. The reward for waiting, if you maintain the asparagus bed properly, is it will continue to produce well for upwards of 15 years!

Culinary Trends in 2015: Collards

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Technician, Steven Rodrigue, discussed Micro Greens. The week prior, Vegetable Product Technician, Steve Bellavia, covered the topic of Hot Peppers. This week, Vegetable Product Technician, Julius Koenig, will be sharing his thoughts on Collards:

  Collards

  By Julius Koenig

  Vegetable Product Technician

Collards (Brassica oleracea) have been a staple vegetable for the southern U.S. for many decades. Now collards are becoming haute cuisine in many dining establishments across the country. The reason behind this interest could be the nutritional content; collards are packed with vitamins and minerals, also providing a great source of fiber. There has also been the comparison between kale and collards, which has many people debating which vegetable is their favorite.

Flash

At Johnny's, we offer three varieties of collards. Whether you’re looking for a Georgia type, known for savoyed leaves, or the Vates types with leaves that are smooth and flat, we have the selection to meet your needs. ‘TopBunch F1’, a lightly savoyed Georgia type that is very quick to mature in 50 days.  ‘Flash F1’ is a Vates type, with a beautiful dark green smooth leaf. ‘Champion’, our open-pollinated option, is a Vates type with large dark green leaves, but is also the best choice for baby leaf. 

Long-time Johnny’s Product Technician Steve Bellavia, who has trialed Brassicas for more than 15 years, says, “I prefer collards to kale, due to their sweetness.”  Interested in trying collards yourself? A simple Google search will yield you hundreds of recipes to try; from the traditional steamed collards to collard sushi. When cooking collards, don’t neglect the fibrous stem, which can be steamed or sautéed minutes before the leaves are thrown in the pot. 

• Shop our selection of Collards at Johnnyseeds.com >

Culinary Trends in 2015: Micro Greens

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Technician, Steve Bellavia, covered the topic of Hot Peppers. The week prior, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck and Plant Breeder, John Navazio discussed Root Vegetables. This week, Product Technician, Steven Rodrigue, will be sharing his thoughts on Micro Greens:

Micro Greens

By Steven Rodrigue

Vegetable Product Technician

Spicy Micro Mix

Many growers have found micro greens to be a worthwhile addition to their offerings at farmer’s

markets and directly to chefs. Not only are they easy to grow, but the quick turnaround from seeding to harvest is a major advantage. The attributes of micro greens that are pleasing to the eye and the palate allow for versatility in the kitchen and inspire chefs with their ability to enhance the presentation of any dish.

Using micro greens in place of finely chopped, full-size greens and herbs allows the consumer to see where the flavor in their meal is coming from. By garnishing with micros, your dish becomes elegant, refined, and subtly sophisticated. Diverse flavor profiles provide micro greens with additional potential beyond garnish. Many of the micros grown from herbs complement desserts superbly with flavors ranging from sweet to tart to licorice-like. In addition to flavor, color and texture are qualities to consider when pairing micro greens with a particular dish.

There are limitless ways for how micro greens can accompany your next meal, but here are just a few:

Bull's Blood Beet

• As the scaled-down version of herbs and vegetables, use micros on scaled-down versions of meals. Top your miniature burgers with the micro green of your preferred flavor, texture, and color. 
• Plan for the holidays: use bright reds and greens for Christmas and arrange micros on your hors d'oeuvre. 
• Add a whole new level of garnish and flavor to your cocktails. 

Culinary Trends in 2015: Hot Peppers

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck and Plant Breeder, John Navazio, covered the topic of Root Vegetables. The week prior, Vegetable Product Manager, Lauren Giroux, discussed Fresh Peas.This week, Product Technician, Steve Bellavia, will be sharing his thoughts on Hot Peppers:

    Hot Peppers

    By Steve Bellavia 

    Vegetable Product Technician

Hot peppers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and degrees of heat. They are widely used in some of the best and most interesting cuisines in the world, including Mexican, Thai, Korean, and Indian or Pakistani.

Poblanos are the mildly spicy, heart-shaped peppers used at the green stage for the famous Mexican dish ‘Chile rellenos.’ When dried they are called anchos and ground into powder for mole and other Mexican dishes. Use the powder in any recipe calling for “Chile powder” or “Chile flakes”. 

Krimzon Lee Pepper

Habanero peppers are used in the Caribbean for jerk sauces, salsas, and other hot sauce concoctions. They offer wonderful floral notes backed by intense heat. If you can’t take the heat, try ‘NuMex Suave Orange’ — it offers all of the floral notes with just a wee bit of heat. 

The hot and spicy cayennes can be used both green red, fresh or dried and made into flakes or powder. There are many cayenne varieties so one can tailor the heat of dishes by variety selection and the quantity used in a recipe. Cayenne powder is used in kimchee, the famous fermented Chinese cabbage dish of Korea. 

‘Krimzon Lee,’ a hot paprika type pepper is great sautéed, roasted, in salsas, and even spicy salads. The thick walls are sweet and mildly hot. 

Then of course, there is the jalapeno, the king of all peppers in the United States and Mexico.  It’s used for salsas, pickling, cooking, stuffing, and many other uses. If allowed to become red and smoked they become chipotles. 

If jalapenos aren't hot enough for you, consider the serrano. They are narrower, darker green, and hotter than jalapenos and can be substituted for 
jalapenos in any recipe calling for them. 

For a Spanish flair try using padrons as a tapas, a type of appetizer. They are harvested at the immature green stage when 1-1½” long, and have an excellent flavor when sautéed with a little olive oil, salt, and if you are a garlic lover, a few garlic gloves. Most padrons will be mild but about 5% will have some heat. If they grow to around 3” then all the fruits will be quite hot! 

Anaheim, also called numex, peppers are sometimes stuffed but also roasted and sautéed. Traditionally, they are used green, but they are also good when red ripe.

Pedron Pepper

• Explore our selection of Hot Peppers >
• Visit Johnnyseeds.com >
• Learn more about transplanting Peppers >
• Shop all Peppers >

Culinary Trends in 2015: Root Vegetables

Albion Parsnip

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Manager, Lauren Giroux, covered the topic of Fresh Peas. The week prior, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck, discussed Heirloom Tomatoes. This week, Pete, along with Johnny’s Plant Breeder, John Navazio, will be sharing their thoughts on Root Vegetables:

Root Vegetables

By Pete Zuck, Vegetable Product Manager, and John Navazio, Plant Breeder

Root vegetables remain a strong trend because of their high nutritional content, sweet flavor, and ability to store well into the winter months. They have been a huge factor in helping growers provide locally-grown food during northern winters.

One thing that is often misunderstood about root crops is the outer layer, or “skin.” There is a misconception out that the skin of a root crop vegetable contains a high concentration of nutrients, and that it should be left on the root for more nutritious eating. In fact, there is nothing particularly special, nutrient-wise, about the outer skin of a carrot or beet or parsnip. It does, however often contain high levels of off-tasting compounds like terpenoids, which give carrots a metallic flavor, and geosmin, which makes beets taste like dirt. So go ahead and peel your carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips… You will enjoy them much more without sacrificing nutrition!

Hakurei Turnip

      

• Explore our selection of Beets >
• Shop for Turnips and Parsnips >

• Visit Johnnyseeds.com >
• Learn more about Carrot flavor in our recent article >
• Shop all Carrots >

Culinary Trends in 2015: Heirloom Tomatoes

Rose

At the turn of the New Year, the National Restaurant Association releases its predictions for the coming year’s top culinary trends. The list is the result of a survey of professional chefs, indicating which items you can expect to be on your menu when you dine out, or to inspire creations in our own kitchen.  

It should come as no surprise that for the past four years, local food has taken the top ranking. From year to year, the remainder of the list has been in flux, with one trend overcoming or falling victim to another. For horticulture-based  trends, especially for local food, the source all comes back to seeds and how the food is grown.

The product managers at Johnny’s reviewed this year’s list and offered up their thoughts on a few of their favorite trends. Each week for the next 5 weeks, we will be covering a different topic within a blog post. Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts on each of the trends we cover.

Heirloom Tomatoes

By Pete Zuck, Vegetable Product Manager

The allure of an heirloom tomato has always been its exceptional flavor. While still very popular with consumers, heirloom tomatoes have recently lost a little ground to other trends. They are also slipping in popularity with growers because they tend to produce far fewer marketable fruits than more modern tomatoes, and do not have the same disease resistances as hybrid varieties to keep them producing vigorously throughout the season.

Black Prince

With that in mind, modern breeding has begun to catch up with heirloom tomatoes. Varieties like ‘Marnero’ and ‘Margold’, available exclusively from Johnny’s, have solved a long-confounding puzzle: how to wed the incomparable eating quality of heirlooms with the commercial performance of modern hybrids The results are outstanding: fruits that retain every bit of the flavor and beauty of the old heirlooms on plants that can produce 2-3 times the yield.

Explore additional resources on Heirloom Tomatoes:

•        Heirloom Tomato Comparison Chart >
•      10 Tips for Heirloom Tomatoes >

Save 10% on Selected Season Extension Supplies

Protect your crops and extend your season early in the spring and late in the fall. Season extension methods allow you to not only extend your season, but increase your yield. 

Enter To Win A Weeding Tools Prize Pack

Enter to win!

Spring is finally here- and so are the weeds. Fight back with some of our fast, efficient, back-saving weeding tools.

We’re giving away an exclusive Weeding Prize Package, including a Standard Collinear Hoe, Trapezoid Hoe, Wire Weeder, set of (3) Tubtrugs and a Johnny's gift certificate!

As an added bonus:

Every person who “shares” this Facebook status will ALSO be entered to win a 2nd prize - a Stirrup Hoe!

Simply sign up for our emails:

To enter to win the prize package, simply sign up to receive our emails here. Already actively receiving Johnny’s emails? Then you’re already entered! Don’t forget to “share” our Facebook status here to be considered for the Stirrup Hoe as well!

We will draw winners for both prizes on Monday, June 16th. Good luck!

Using Johnny's Long-Handled Tools

Short-handled Weeding Tools

Weeding is most effectively done when the weeds are young and in the morning on a sunny day. Together, those two tactics will result in the highest mortality rate. Young weeds are simply easier to kill and all weeds are easier to kill when the afternoon sun is available to desiccate their disturbed foliage and roots.

Also, although there seems to be an unending supply, there really are just so many weed seeds available in the 'weed seed bank' — that collection of weed seeds lying dormant in your soil, awaiting favorable conditions to germinate and cause you problems. Weeding while the weeds are young and have not gone to seed, works to effectively deplete the weed seed bank and eventually will result in relatively weed-free conditions. But, you have to be diligent and proactive in order to ever achieve that.

Explore our collection of short-handled weeding tools:

Hand Hoe

The Hand Hoe

Also known as the Nejiri Gama Hand Hoe, this low-cost, lightweight tool becomes an extremely sharp and precise extension of the user's arm when in use. It is by far our best-selling, small hand tool. It sports a D-shaped, high-carbon steel blade welded to a steel shank, set in a wooden handle. These are great low-cost tools for growers to equip their entire farm crew with for detailed in-row weeding in the field. 

    

  

Hand Hoe 

The Lucko Wire Weeder

This tool was recommended to us by Paul and Alison Wiediger of Au Naturel Farm in Kentucky. The Wiedigers prefer this European-made tool for detailed weeding in their hoophouses. The round wire design creates the business end of a tool that won't cut drip tape but will easily upend young weed seedlings. It has a narrow end for weeding between closely spaced crops like dense plantings of baby leaf lettuce, and a wider end to cover more ground in open areas.

The Lucko Wire Weeder

The Wire Weeder

The Wire Weeder

This short-handled version of one of Eliot Coleman's favorite tools is perfect for in-row weeding of closely spaced crops like salad mix, carrots and onions, as well as perennial flowers and herbs.

The Spring Tine Cultivator

The Spring Tine Cultivator

Three round, spring-steel tines scratch the soil just enough to uproot smaller weeds while loosening the surface soil, allowing water and oxygen to penetrate. Great for cultivating tight areas. 

The Ho-Mi EZ Digger

The Ho-Mi EZ Digger

This is also known as the traditional Korean hand plow and dates back over 5000 years. It has multiple curves in its forged design that impart strength as well as function. It can be used to dig, furrow, weed, cover seed, transplant seedlings, and loosen, level, cultivate, and mound soil.

The Cobrahead Weeder and Cultivator

The Cobrahead Weeder and Cultivator

This short-handled version of the Cobrahead has a tough, sharp steel blade and comfortable handle that makes fast work of tedious garden chores. Used to weed, cultivate, make small furrows, and even as a mini trowel for small transplants. 

Pre-emergence Weed Control

This is a practice that many farmers swear by, especially for dense, hard-to-weed crops like baby leaf lettuce or greens. In this method, the bed is prepped for planting a couple of weeks prior to seeding and weeds are allowed to grow. Just before seeding the grower will flame the bed, killing any weeds that have started to grow, and then seed into a so-called 'stale bed.' After that, the crop should come up nearly weed-free. The labor and fuel costs associated with flaming are usually far less than the cost to hand weed these dense beds or cull out weeds in the wash water, so the method pays for itself.

Thanks for reading and best of luck in your own personal battle against weeds.

Adam Lemieux
Tools & Supplies Product Manager 

Learn More

To learn more about Weed Management in Sustainable Agriculture Systems, see the following articles on our website:

• Guide to Johnny's Long-Handled Weeding & Cultivation Tools  by Adam Lemieux, R&D, Tools & Supplies Product Manager
• Weed Management Basics: A Two-Pronged Approach to Season-Long Weed Control, by Eric Gallandt, PhD, Weed Ecologist, University of Maine
• Got Weeds?
  Targeting Annual & Perennial Weeds

Mother's Day Gifts for the Gardeners in Your Life

Explore Johnny's selection of gift ideas for the gardeners on your list this Mother's Day!

Visit the Johnny's Pinterest page by clicking the Pinterest Board below and be sure to pin your favorite gift items.

Visit the Johnny's Pinterest Page

Explore Our Fast-Growing, Diverse Greens

Johnny's is pleased to offer greens from all corners of the globe.

 

All of our greens varieties can be grown to full size and many can be harvested at the baby leaf stage for salad mixes where they add wonderful flavors, textures, and colors.

 

Create your own custom mixes or try one of our popular, easy to grow pre-mixed selections.

  

Salanova Lettuce®

      

      

          

                                

           

              

Save Now on Seed Starting Supplies

Growing your own transplants from seed allows you to choose from your favorite varieties, determine the appropriate planting date, and the number of plants you want. Johnny's seed starting supplies will help you grow your own professional-quality seedlings economically.

Save up to 10% on Selected Seed-Starting Supplies. Now through March 2nd!

An Introduction to Flower Sprouts™

Kaleidoscope Mix (F1)

What are Flower Sprouts™?

Flower Sprouts™ are the result of a cross between kale and Brussels sprouts. The resulting plants produce beautiful, open, florets that have a mild kale-like flavor which only improves with the colder days of the fall.  

When do you plant them?

You may ask why we are talking about a fall vegetable well before spring. Well, when growing Flower Sprouts™ patience is definitely a virtue. This crop requires at least 110 days to maturity from time of transplanting. So the total time to produce this crop from seed to edible floret is close to 22 weeks… that’s why we’re talking about Flower Sprouts™ in February!

What’s the best way to grow them?

In order to produce the sweet kale-like florets, attention to detail and, as previously stated, patience is required. Flower Sprouts™ are grown in a similar fashion as Brussels sprouts; provide a very fertile, well-drained soil, with a pH range of 6.0-7.5.

The seedlings should be started early enough to be ready to be set out in mid to late spring. Growers should provide sufficient irrigation throughout the growing season to help produce tall, strong plants. The sprouts should begin to form by early fall and be ready to harvest starting in mid to late fall.

Like other crops in the Brassica family, such as broccoli and cabbage, the flavor of Flower Sprouts™ will become sweeter and milder when the weather cools in the fall. Flower Sprouts™ are very cold hardy, similar to Brussels sprouts and kale. If you grow in a short-season area, be sure to top the plants about 4-5 weeks prior to the intended harvest season. The tops can be sold and used just like kale.

Red Russian Kale (OG)

How can they be prepared?

Flower Sprouts™ are suited to diverse cooking methods such as lightly steaming, sautéing, stir frying, and roasting. When lightly cooked they will hold their color. The tender, mildly flavored spouts have a taste and texture similar to Red Russian Kale.

When growing Flower Sprouts™ remember to be patient and enjoy!